


He sees her twice more before the end

by krisrussel



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-24
Updated: 2012-10-24
Packaged: 2017-11-16 23:02:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/544801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krisrussel/pseuds/krisrussel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He sees her twice more before the end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He sees her twice more before the end

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Kathryne for the Holiday Fic 2011 - December 19th. Sorry it’s so insanely late and I hope you’ll like it, but don’t expect too much. I know you love River, and I’m not sure I fully did her justice. And I’m not that much up-to-date with her entire story line, so I could be breaking canon a bit. Also, this is unbeta’d, so all mistakes and stupidities are my own.

The second time he sees River Sung is more in a flash than anything else. He’s on a market square on some alien planet with Donna by his side when he sees her in the corner of his eye.  
He calls out to her and runs over to her.  
The questioning look on her face already tells him he shouldn’t expect too much of this chance-meeting. She also looks so insanely young that, for barely a second, he doubts it’s even her.  
“Have we met?” she asks after he repeats her name.  
“I’m the Doctor.” He simply states.  
The look on her face has a touch of curiosity to it, but overall she stays serious. “Doctor who?”  
He knows he shouldn’t bother with an explanation. He remembers what she told him about spoilers. “Doctor John Smith. We met a while back. I shouldn’t have expected you to remember me.”  
Her face turns into a combination of confusion and amusement when she says: “Shame I don’t remember you, Doctor.” And she winks.  
He gives her a sheepish smile and then she’s gone. He knows it’s a small and simple moment that he will never forget.

The third time he sees River Sung, he knows he’s dying. He knows it will be the last time he’ll be able to see her. In this form anyway.  
Again it’s purely an accident that he, almost literally, walks in to her. He hadn’t planned on seeing her again before the demise of this body. For some reason she’s a very difficult woman to track down, so he hadn’t really bothered in the limited time he has left. But as he’s walking out of the alien bar, after his goodbye and apology to Jack, he nearly walks into her in the doorway.  
The both fumble with an apology before they actually take a good look at each other.  
There’s a small flash of recognition in her eyes and it makes him smile. She’s not much older than the last time he saw her.  
“Hello, River.”  
“Hello, Doctor Smith.”  
“It’s a small galaxy.”  
“That it is.” She agrees.  
The smile on her face deepens and he’s really happy he got to see her one last time.  
“Do you need to leave or are you up for a drink?” she asks.  
Regret covers his face. If only he had more time. But he can feel his energy draining, seemingly faster and faster. The time he has left is quickly slipping away. If only he could get the chance to get to know her a little bit better... maybe in a next life...  
“I’m sorry. I just don’t have the time.”  
She nods. “Too bad. But who knows, we might see each other again soon.”  
He doesn’t have the heart to tell her she will only see him once more like this. One last time before she dies. So he just smiles. “Who knows.”  
After another long look, they part ways. He makes himself walk away without looking back. It would only hurt him more.

The end


End file.
